Tuesday, 30 March 2010

We recently attended a friend's baby shower, where part of the amusement was a competition to make the cutest baby from a piece of Alfoil. Nathan won (he's a keeper!).

His prize was this:

As you can see, the Cindy Quanlity Nasal mucus sucker "can adjust the sunction, comtort and sate". How it works, according to the back, is "you please put the round finestra close to baby's nose, and flat sucker for sucking. Don't use the sucker while your nose be injured or fester. Don't overexert in case injure the mucous membrane. Should stop sucking if you find nosebleed and should hospitalize immediately".

That's right - it's a contraption for sucking your baby's snot up through a tube.

I thought this was the most disgusting thing I had ever heard of, until the party host told us how she found out about the existence of the Quanlity Nasal mucus sucker: it was when she saw her nanny, mouth planted firmly over her baby's nose, sucking the baby's snot straight into her mouth.

And I thought that was the most disgusting thing I had ever heard of, until I found out that the owners of cock-fighting roosters throughout southeast Asia will clear their birds' air passages by sucking mucous through their beak-holes.

And then I decided it was probably best if I didn't inquire any further on the matter.

About

Hello! My name is Tabitha Carvan and lived in Hanoi from 2009 to 2012, during which time I wrote regularly for Crikey, AsiaLIFE magazine, Dan Tri newspaper and, obviously, this blog, about my experiences in Vietnam as a foreigner.